Aftershocks
by sunfruit
Summary: After the season 5 finale. Revenge, love and all that good stuff. [Chap 2]
1. Default Chapter

One of the last things I remembered was a rising sense of horror as I watched 6 or 7 men with machine guns run by. I must have said something to call their attention to those men because Davis and Cruz were looking and Bosco was turning ever so slowly.  
  
A man noticed us and turned, bringing the nose of his gun to face us. I remember two thoughts: "Please God, let my children be happy"; and "Not now—"and then Bosco was ducking towards me and we were flying backwards. I think I fainted, whether with fear or injury, I don't know.  
  
When I woke up and there were soft breaths on my neck and a heavy warm body draped over me, I thought I was at home and Fred and I were—no, Fred was gone. I swallowed with grief and then realized I tasted blood in my mouth. What—  
  
The last moments sped through my mind and I choked out Bosco's name.  
  
"Faith?" His voice was no more than a breath of sound in my ear. The word sent shivers of fear down my back that settled in my belly. I attempted to look at his face, but I could only see his shoulder and the back of his neck...  
  
The back of his neck was bloody. Panic shot through me and I tried to roll Bosco off me onto the floor, but he groaned and so I stopped, unwilling to hurt him any more.  
  
"Boz?" I felt along his sides and my fingers found a hole in the fabric of his suit. "Boz?" My voice rose a little higher. "Can you hear me? Is it okay to move you? Were you shot?" My hands found another hole, and another. My pulse was hammering and the lead ball in the pit of my stomach grew much heavier.  
  
"It's okay... to move..." His voice was growing softer. "Faith... Are you..."  
  
"I'm good, Bosco. Sh now. Everything's fine now." I shoved a chair away with my arm so I could have a place to lay Bosco. "I'm going to roll you over, okay?" Something that could have been an affirmative escaped him.  
  
I set one hand on his back, trying to avoid bullet wounds, and one hand on the back of his head. I rolled over, trying to keep his neck steady like the paramedics do. As I lowered him to the ground, he made no sound.  
  
"Bosco, wake up." I bent my head to hear if he was breathing. A long pause, but thank god! His breathing tickled my ear slightly. "Boz, say something!" I heard a note of desperation enter my voice. "Please... I don't even care if you spell it right."  
  
A barely audible chuckle came.  
  
"Good, keep talking... " Splotches of dark red dotted his blue shirt, livid against the pristine. The side of his jaw was bloody... but it didn't look like his neck was hit, I think it might've been a graze on the side of his head. That reminded me of a certain unpleasant person who happened to be in the room with us, and Davis.  
  
I turned to find Ty moaning and rocking slightly, looking half unconscious. I bit my lip, and continued my revolution to see her slumped motionless on the ground. Cruz's sharp nose was curled, even in unconsciousness, into a snarl. Her smoky eyes were shut against the bright light of our world. The back of her head was completely gone, a mass of gray and red.  
  
I gasped and gagged, barely holding back my bile, even as a disgusting sense of triumph rose. My eyes fell shut for a moment as I collected myself. I didn't want to win, not like this. Still it floated inside me, taunting and reviling. After a moment I shoved it aside for more immediate concerns.  
  
Turning back to Bosco, his pale, pale face sent fresh shocks of fear coursing through me. My first impulse was to scrabble for my radio, but I only felt soft fabric at my side. We were in a hospital, of course.  
  
"I'm going to go and find a doctor or something..." I gestured weakly towards the general direction of the E.R. His head moved slowly, druggedly. Dark eyelashes rested on his cheek, and some unidentifiable emotion came and inspired me to brush a finger just below those supine lashes. My fingers leave a line of red in their wake; I blink away tears. I wipe my hands on the front of my skirt. When I'm just about to turn away, something catches my eye.  
  
The corner of Bosco's lips turns up in a small, almost content smile. I almost smile back but then realization punches through—he doesn't think he'll live. That terrifying thought is spurring me into action and I rise on my unsteady legs. I walk two steps; then I burst into a run.  
  
There's a doctor striding down the hallway, his face set in a brittle mask. Two nurses follow behind him. The younger nurse's face has an expression of abject terror, and the older one's is set in grim determination.  
  
"Please, please, help us. They came... Bosco's hurt real bad and I don't know what to do and you have to help us. Please." I'm babbling and I cringe at the weakness in my voice. The older nurse gives me a brief sympathetic look, and the doctor pushes his way past me.  
  
Following them, my train of thought is on a joy ride. My children, I'm still alive. Bosco. Fred is going to kill me—no, no he's not. Bosco. Emily and Charlie, I have to see them soon. Bosco. What happens if... Bosco.  
  
The trio seem to know exactly where to go and I realize it's quite obvious, what with the shredded windows and moaning coming from Davis. Funny that I didn't hear him before. I almost giggle, but I choke it before it comes out. The doctor rushes over to Bosco's side, speaking clearly in medical lingo. A flurry of activity that are the nurses seem to be blurred.  
  
I'm crying. I shouldn't be crying, I'm a cop. Cops don't cry.  
  
The enormity of the situation hits me; There's an angry mob leader who sent a bunch of guys with machine guns to kill us in a hospital. He killed Bosco's brother. He tried to blow us up. Bosco is near death. Cruz IS dead. Ty is wounded. And my family...  
  
They start CPR on Bosco.  
  
I sink to the glass-littered floor near the wall and burst into sobs.  
  
A/N:  
  
I made a mistake, I was rewatching the season finale, and I realized the shirt Bosco is wearing is blue, not white. Sorry bout that. 


	2. Chapter 2

Faith was crying, and I knew I caused it. I wanted to move, to say something to fix my mistakes but everything was so slow, and dark. There was something wrong with me; I knew something important had happened but I couldn't remember...  
  
Things were blank for awhile. I don't know how long. When I became aware again, I was able to open my eyes slightly.  
  
Whoa, bad idea. I shut them tight against the light. I think I saw someone outlined against a window. I really hoped it wasn't those thugs come to finish the job. At that thought, memories flooded my mind.  
  
Faith.  
  
I opened my eyes and attempted to sit up, which was my second bad idea of the night. Really, I gotta learn to think things over.  
  
"Bosco, are you alright?" I heard quick, capable steps, Faith's steps. So it didn't appear like she was hurt. I forced my eyes open a third time, to see for myself. Her face looked overly pink, like it had been scrubbed, and her hair was a little worse for wear, but overall she looked fine and healthy. I smiled. It probably looked like crap, but who cares, we lived.  
  
"Hey." My voice sounded hoarse. Probably because I felt like I drank a super-sized cup of sand. "Are you okay?" She chuckled softly at this, and there seemed to be almost a hysterical edge to it.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine. You saved my life." She takes a solid hold of one of my hands. I'm reminded of her butterfly-like touch on my cheek when I was lying on the floor, right after the attack. It had felt so gentle, and tender; I didn't know Faith's touch could be that way. I'm used to her solid grip on my arm as she pulls me back out of a busy street, or a punch on my arm at an inappropriate joke.  
  
"Do you need anything?" She's looking at me earnestly, and her hand squeezes mine reassuringly, friendly. I need that touch again, I think.  
  
But I look at her and say, "Can I have a glass of water?"  
  
"No. Sorry, not that. The nurse's say it'll be a few days before you can eat or drink much."  
  
I stare at her.  
  
"Well, I'll ask. Maybe you can have an ice cube or something." She gives me a smile.  
  
"Thanks." She stands, and walks out of the dimly lit room. I realize that there are men in uniform standing outside of the room. Protecting us. Protecting her. I feel part of a weight come off my shoulders. There was a worry that I hadn't been aware of until now, that I wouldn't be able to protect her, and that bastard would come back and try to finish it. He's not going to be able to, I thought grimly. I'm finishing it. For Mikey, for Ma... For her. Rage was building inside me again, but I cooled it to a simmer. I had to heal and bide my time. I wouldn't do my family any good as a pincushion.  
  
I sigh and close my eyes. I'm asleep before Faith comes back with an ice cube.  
  
When I come back with the ice cube the nurse gave me, Bosco's eyes were shut. I think he's asleep.  
  
"Bosco?" I whisper softly. There's no response. I pause for a moment, savoring his sleeping form, deeply relieved that my best friend is alive. I smile and leave the room; I have something to do.  
  
I pop the ice cube into my mouth, crunching noisily. I always did like chewing on ice cubes. A cop gives me a strange look. I smile a tense smile. They had come quickly; Many police cars had rolled up in front of the hospital in those moments... after. I dimly recall many questions, and people grabbing me or touching reassuringly, but my being had been focused on Bosco. He had been shot 11 times. He was in surgery for a long, long time.  
  
Reaching into the pocket that holds the family cell phone, I wonder if they'll be home. I had called before, after Bosco got out of surgery. I knew it wasn't likely, but I couldn't stop hoping.  
  
I hung up on the 9th ring. I glared at the phone and paced over to the end of the hallway.  
  
"Come on guys, I'm just trying to keep you safe." Cursing Fred's faithlessness, I look through the names in the quick dial. Maybe he was blatant enough to put her number in our phone.  
  
There. That was it, an unfamiliar name.  
  
Linda.  
  
I press the button to dial it, and press the phone to my ear. My lip is painful from my teeth, so I release it. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Come on, damnit! Finally it picks up, and a languid but slightly annoyed female voice comes on.  
  
"McAlly residence." She sounds sexy, and I swallow, somewhat intimidated.  
  
"Hello, is Fred there?"  
  
She sounds confused, "Uh, sure, may I ask who it is?" "It's Faith, his wife."  
  
A pregnant pause follows, but finally I hear the sound of the phone being handed from one person to another.  
  
"Faith?" Fred's sleepy voice, "What do you want? I told you we're not coming home."  
  
I bite back anger. "There was almost an explosion at Bosco's brother's funeral. At the same time there were two other coordinated bombs, targeting cops. We came to the hospital and 7 men with machine guns came and attempted to kill us. One officer is dead, and two others are seriously wounded."  
  
I don't hear anything for a few moments.  
  
"Faith, are you hurt?" I hear genuine concern in his voice. Somehow that was worse than indifference.  
  
"No, I'm not." I was aiming for angry and waspish, but my voice cracks. "You and the kids gotta come to Mercy hospital. We think they're trying to get the families of cops too. That's why they killed Bosco's brother. I don't know what I would do if the kids..." I feel dangerously close to another breakdown.  
  
"Wait Faith, who is 'they'?"  
  
"Last week there was a car chase and we killed this mob boss's kid and now he's after us."  
  
I wait, wondering if Fred ever thought this slow before.  
  
"Alright, we're coming. We'll be there in a half an hour."  
  
"Be safe."  
  
"You too."  
  
Turning the phone off and pocketing it, I make my way back to Bosco's room. I want to be there when he wakes up.  
  
A/N:  
  
Thanks for all the kind reviews people! =D They really DO encourage you to write more. hint hint ;)  
  
jfh: Thanks, and I think that'd be awesome. Thanks for the idea!  
  
Nerahdius: uh, thanks. lol  
  
dixie: Thanks but sorry, that's what I'm aiming for. I'm a 'shipper and Bosco and Faith are too good to pass up.  
  
HunnieBunnie: I am! I am! Thank you.  
  
JackSparrowsBooty: Yup, I am! Hopefully I'll get a lot of time and inspiration to work hard on this fic!  
  
Shorty: Sorry I killed off Cruz, but I felt it'd be a little unrealistic if everyone escaped without a scratch. I hope to write an alternate fic about what happens after the finale and Cruz lives.  
  
amy: Thanks, . Yeah, poor Cruz :( but I felt there needed to be some description  
  
Bo: Thank you!! I tried very hard to show Faith's emotions, I'm glad you noticed =D  
  
katy: I enjoy writing about what happens. It makes me feel powerful : }Thank you.  
  
faithinFaith: Thank you so much! I'm glad to know that it was good. Anything you say...? How about another update to your fic? ;) I really enjoy it, in fact I'm heading over there to write a review right now.  
  
anneinchicago: Thanks! Yeah, I was thinking about that, but I kinda didn't want people to figure out she was dead until the end of the paragraph. It does seem pretty odd now that I think about it. I'll sleep on it, thanks for your help =D 


End file.
